Tim hated his friends. He hated, hated, hated them.

"Aw, come on, Tim! Just come out!" Bart insisted.

Tim scowled and shifted the blazer to cover the fucking-the fucking-

Tim would murder Conner Kent.

"We'll see you anyway when Kon comes to pick you up," Anita said.

"Come on, it can't be that bad!" Cissie added.

"I saw it in the box! It looked like a normal suit to me!" Greta said.

Cassie was suspiciously silent.

Tim took a deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom, keeping his arms down so that the blazer wouldn't ride up. So they wouldn't see.

He'd fucking murder Conner. And he was a detective. A good one. He could get away with it.

"Aw," Bart said disappointedly as Tim came into view. "It does look like a normal suit."

But it wasn't. And from the look on Cassie's snickering face, she knew that too.

"I told you!" Greta said. "It's not so bad. It actually fits really well."

Too well.

"Come on," Cassie teased, "turn around for us, Tim."

"No."

"Why? What's on the back?" Cissie asked.

"Nothing," Tim said, too clipped for any of his friends to believe him.

Someone knocked on the door and Tim jumped. He glanced down at his watch, trying not to move his arms. No way, it was still ten minutes to eight. No way that was Conner. Though, if Conner was early to anything in his life, of course, it would be this.

"I'll get it!" Greta said, jumping to her feet.

"Come on, Tim, spin!" Cassie urged.

"No," Tim repeated stonily.

"What's with you?" Bart asked, frowning. "You're standing like you have more of a stick up your ass than usual."

How close Bart was. Cassie laughed and Tim scowled at her.

"You did this. Didn't you? This was your idea?"

"Well, I helped," Cassie said, grinning, "but this was mostly him."

"What was?" Someone called from the door.

No! This torment might have been survivable before, but now that was impossible.

"Get out," Tim snapped, standing even more ridgedly than before. His siblings trooped in, saying their hellos to Tim's ex-friends who sat scattered around his living room.

"Aw, now you don't want us to spend time together?" Jason teased.

"No. Leave."

Not when I'm fucking dressed like this.

Even Damian was here, though Tim's little brother seemed grumpy about it. He sulked in the back of his siblings, scowling at all of Tim's friends. Most of whom ignored him. He'd probably only come because Jason promised Tim was going to be humiliated, and Damian would have to see that.

"It doesn't look so bad," Dick said, sitting next to Cissie and Greta on the couch.

"Spin!" Cassie insisted.

"No!"

"Why? Is the humiliating stuff on the back?" Jason asked. His eyes widened and he gasped. "Did he make you wear assless chaps?"

Worse, Tim didn't say. But it must have been clear from his expression because Jason gasped and guessed again.

"A thong?"

"Ew! Jason!" Dick cried, covering Damian's ears, even though Damian was seventeen and had definitely seen worse. Damian scowled and pushed out of Dick's grasp.

"Spin," Cassie said. The chant came up, "spin! Spin! Spin!"

"I hate you all," Tim hissed. Slowly, as carefully as he could not to jostle the blazer, he spun. On the back of his blazer, stitched in bright yellow thread were the words JUST LOST A BET.

"I don't understand," Duke said, "there's nothing there."

"See," Tim lied, "nothing inappropriate or humiliating."

"Lift your arms," Cassie said, her voice lit with amusement.

"No."

"Tim, just do it."

"Fine, but Cass make sure Jason doesn't take a picture."

"I don't get it," Dick said.

Tim lifted up his arms, and his blazer lifted, revealing the small puffy white ball of fuzz.

"Oh my god," Tim heard Duke say in conjunction with the unmistakable shutter of a camera taking a picture.

"You have a tail," Dick breathed.

Tim resettled his blazer back down and turned back around.

"There, that's all you get," he said as Cassie added: "And that's not all."

"No, she's a liar and a vagrant. That is all," Tim insisted.

"He gave you a tail?" Bart cried. Most of Tim's friends looked more confused than amused. Jason cackled though. And they hadn't even gotten to the good part.

"Disgusting," Damian said, shaking his head. "Completely disrespectful to the Wayne name. You're a failure, Drake. I'll speak to Father about this behavior."

"Oh shut up, Damian," Anita snapped.

Jason was cackling. "This is gold!"

Cass studied Tim curiously. She could clearly tell that the tail wasn't all. Tim gave her a small shake of his head and she raised an eyebrow, lips quirking in amusement.

"Gee, aren't you hot, Tim?" Cassie asked.

"No."

"I don't get it," Dick said, shaking his head. "How's that embarrassing?"

"Must I explain it to you, Richard? Clearly-"

"That's hardly the embarrassing part," Cassie said, drawing everyone's attention.

"Cassie, no, please-"

"This is what you get when you lose a bet, Tim," Cassie told him as if this was all his fault. "Take off the blazer."

Damian scoffed. "I have no interest in seeing Drake disrobe."

He stood as if to leave, but unfortunately no one else seemed to agree with him.

Sighing as his friends and family insisted he take off the blazer, Tim slowly unbuttoned it and let it drop down his arms. He heard Cissie shriek and Dick yelped, slapping a hand over Damian's eyes which caused him to cry out.

"Unhand me, Grayson!"

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod-" Bart whispered. In a flash he had his phone in his hand and was snapping as many pictures as he could.

Duke sat dumbfounded, while behind him Jason and Anita rolled with laughter. Cassie clutched her belly while she giggled. Cass covered her mouth with a hand politely. Greta's jaw was open and she seemed frozen, staring at Tim's semi-naked chest in shock.

"He turned you into a Bunny!" Cissie cried. Her hands combed through her hair in shock. "You're a fucking Playboy Bunny!"

"I. Hate. All. Of. You." Tim spat.

The costume that Kon (and Cassie apparently) had picked out was indeed half Playboy Bunny. With fitted slacks, and a small white bunny tail pinned in the back. He wore two white, starched cuffs with paste cuff-links, and a small bib with a collar and bow-tie that didn't cover the nothingness of his chest. Covered, of course, by the blazer, none of the bunny aspects could be seen, but Tim knew it was there, and that almost made it worse.

"Show us the stockings!" Cassie cheered, clapping her hands.

There could be nothing more embarrassing than what had already happened so Tim kicked off his loafers to show everyone the fishnet stockings that went with the outfit.

"Happy now?" Tim asked.

"Oh," Jason said when he could catch his breath again, "you have no idea. If I died now, my life would be complete."

Tim pulled back on the blazer to 'aww's and 'booo!'s from his friends and family. He shifted it to cover the bunny tail stitched to his ass.

The doorbell rang and Bart jumped up to get it.

"Now, remember to stay safe," Jason told Tim through snickers. Tim ignored him. "And that if you're going to have sex, use protection-"

"Fuck you," Tim grumbled at him.

"Yes, but not without a condom," Jason teased, which made Dick kick him.

"Hey, Tim?" Bart called from the door. "Kon's outside."

Tim rubbed at his face before catching himself, and tugging down the back of his blazer self-consciously.

"Have fun!" The girls chimed as he walked towards the door.

Tim told them what they could do with that sentiment.

On his motorcycle, Kon grinned, visor of his helmet up.

"Hey Gorgeous, ready for the worst night of your life?"

"Let's just get this over with," Tim mumbled while everyone waved goodbye to him.

He walked down the steps to Kon who slid off his bike and held out a yellow helmet with daisies painted on it. Tim raised an eyebrow.

"You have to wear it, those are the rules," Kon reminded him.

"I know," Tim hissed, taking it from him. How could he possibly put it on without his blazer lifting?

Kon looked him up and down, not able to keep the smirk off of his face. Asshole.

"I see it fits."

"A little tight," Tim commented shortly. Kon's smile grew wider.

"And you say that like it wasn't on purpose."

He winked at Tim and Tim scowled at him, managing to shimmy the helmet onto his head. "Now remember, I say what you wear, what we do, and what you eat. At the end of the night, you'll be relinquished home, or not," he winked again and Tim continued to scowl.

"I remember."

"And finally," Kon said, pointing a finger at Tim, "and this is the most important: no matter what happens, you're not allowed to fall in love with me."

"Won't be a problem."

Tim would get Kon back for this. Measure for freaking measure. See how he liked dressing up as a Playboy Bunny. Well, knowing Kon, he'd probably relish it. Maybe that was what Tim should do to get him back, just not care. Yeah, right, if only you could, Tim told himself bitterly.

"First, as any good date in Gotham should start, we go to a fabulous five star dinner at Batburger. Then, two tickets to the new Waynetech R and D demonstration."

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, don't worry, dear Timothy, your father won't be there." Kon's eyes sparkled in the lamplight. "But the press will be. And that's just the beginning of the night. Get on, lover," he said patting the bike. But people will see! Tim wanted to cry. Though, of course, that was Kon's plan. "We've a long way to go."

Tim scowled and slid onto Kon's bike behind him, aware that his tail was sticking out. Well, at least everyone knew it was a bet, and that Tim didn't just dress this way. He tightened his grip around Kon's waist. Kon kicked his bike off the ground and took off roaring down the road.

Here we go.

Once at Batburger Tim was forced to eat chicken nuggets, preform Ave Maria for the entire restaurant (no, he did not know Ave Maria), and do the dance to Cotton-Eye Joe with Kon. But, all in all, it wasn't the worst thing ever.

Then, came the R&D demonstration. Which, Tim had grumbled to Kon, worst date venue ever. Kon had rolled his eyes and said, "please, like if this was a regular date you wouldn't have your pants halfway off already."

Tim had hated that Kon knew him well enough to know that, yes for normal people R&D demonstrations might not be fun, but that Tim would've, of course, loved it.

"Besides, they might blow something up," Kon had added. Which, Tim knew, was Kon's perfect date.

After they'd arrived and Tim had downed a glass of complimentary champagne, Kon left Tim alone to eat the little pigs in a blanket that were being passed around by the wait staff while he took a phone-call.

"Tim!" A familiar voice called. Tim turned to see Tam jog over to him, her dark hair pulled back from her face. She looked gorgeous in a long blue evening gown. Tam had a funny look on her face and when she reached him she said: "lost a bet?"

Tim had forgotten what was sewn into his blazer. "Oh, yeah."

She coughed gracefully and added, "your tail is peeking out."

Tim shrugged. "Honestly, couldn't care less at this point."

Tam laughed.

"You look good though," Tim said.

Tam beamed at him. "Thanks, Tim. I didn't know you'd be here."

"Oh, I'm not. I mean, I am, just not as a Wayne."

Tim gave her the short story of the bet and how Tim came to be here. By the time he'd finished, Kon had returned.

"So this is the infamous Conner Kent, huh?" Tam asked him, nodding to Kon.

Kon, momentarily distracted, flashed her a flirtatious smile.

"Detective Conner Kent, meet Assistant Director Tamara Fox," Tim waved a hand between them as he introduced them.

"Nice to meet you." Conner held out his hand for her to take.

Tam smiled at him.

"Maybe if you flirt with him, he'll forget about me," Tim stage-whispered to Tam. Tam laughed.

Kon swung an arm around Tim's shoulders. "Never, love! Don't even joke!" he teased. He sighed, and dropped his hand. "Right, well, you'll enjoy this."

"I doubt it," Tim said.

"No? You want to stay on this date with me?" Kon asked in mock surprise. "I'll just call Reddy back and-"

"No! Wait!" Tim cried, grabbing his hand. "Tell me!"

Kon rolled his eyes.

"You know the Fries case?"

"Sure, what of it?"

The case had been at a stand-still. Millions of dollars of diamonds and other precious jewels stolen. The gems had disappeared off the map despite the GCPD's best efforts. It had been one of Tim's unit's cases.

"There's been word on the street. CIs say they're moving the ice, but no one who knows the case is free."

"No one?"

"After we left, apparently all of our friends got drunk."

"As you do," Tim muttered under his breath and Tam chuckled. "Just us, huh?"

"Unless you want me to tell Cap we can't make it-?"

"No! Let's take it."

"Good, because he made it pretty clear that we don't have a choice." Conner turned to Tam and tipped an imaginary hat. "Nice meeting you, Miss Fox."

"You too, Detective."

On the way back to Conner's bike, Kon explained what Reddy had told him. "We'll be staking out the warehouse. Unfortunately, no time for us to change."

"It's fine," Tim said. He didn't mind much, at least they'd be working. "You brought your gun and badge?"

"Never leave home without it."

Neither did Tim. He didn't have cuffs though. He asked Conner as he slid onto the back of Conner's bike.

"Like a boy scout, prepared for anything," Conner said. He winked, then turned back to the street.

They roared away.

Kon pulled up outside the warehouse that Reddy had suggested and Tim tried pulling off the stitched on bunny tail but heard a ripping sound and stopped. There was nothing that could be done about the blazer either. "Here," Kon said, tossing him his leather jacket.

"Slacks, a tie, and a leather jacket?" Tim teased.

Kon raised his eyebrows.

"What, want to take it off? I won't mind, but I'm sure it'll be the first time that anyone's been arrested by a stripper."

Tim rolled his eyes and slipped the jacket on. He'd be lying if he said that the jacket wasn't comfortable, or didn't warm him. It was a little too big which meant it covered Tim's butt and thus his tail as well. Annoyingly, it also meant that the sleeves were too long and Tim pushed them up his arms a little so he could use his hands. Tim felt eyes on him and he glanced up at Kon, who quickly turned his gaze to the surrounding hiding places perfect for a stake-out.

Kon surveyed the roofs.

"That one has the best vantage point. We hide my bike, and then head up there." Kon nodded to the door on the ground level. "Look, door's even open."

"Sounds good," Tim said. He zipped up the jacket. "Let's go."

They hid Kon's bike and made their way up to the roof.

"So, tell me something," Tim asked as they broke out onto the roof.

Kon stuck a brick out on the roof door to make sure they wouldn't be locked out. He dropped his bag onto the ground. It had been the saddlebag on his bike, and he'd told Tim it was an emergency stake-out bag (which Tim understood, though if he had been anyone else who was less of a workaholic, he definitely would have found it weird). Tim found a spot on the roof to sit and pulled Kon's leather jacket closer around him.

"What's up?" Kon asked.

"Why the emojis?"

"What?"

"Yesterday, you sent me two emojis. A rabbit and a turtle. What did they mean?"

Kon sat next to Tim, dragging his bag to where they sat.

"Wow, you haven't figured it out yet? You're clearly not as good of a detective as I thought."

Tim narrowed his eyes. What…?

No… no way.

"I refuse to believe you've read Aesop's The Tortoise and The Hare," Tim said.

"A soap?" Kon looked confused. "No, the Disney audio book things, remember those?"

Tim laughed. "Of course."

"What's a soap?"

"Aesop. He was an old Greek philosopher," Tim said. "Told people a lot of stories about animals, but really they were metaphors for how to behave."

"Like the Tortoise and the Hare?"

"Exactly."

"You learn something new every day," Kon said.

Tim snorted. "You maybe more than most."

"Hey!" Kon cried, but Tim glanced at him and saw he was smiling. Kon pulled out a pair of binoculars from his bag and bag of mini-marshmallows. "Want?"

"You eat marshmallows on stake-outs?" Tim asked.

"They're tasty and don't go bad. Why? What do you eat on stake-outs?" Kon asked.

Tim snorted.

"Nothing that'll make my dentist rich."

"Ah, see, here's the thing, if you never go to the dentist you can never get cavities." Kon tapped his temples knowingly and Tim laughed.

"That's not remotely how that works."

"Or is it?"

Tim took the bag from Kon.

"Here," Tim said, taking a marshmallow out of the bag. He held it over his head in a tossing motion. "Catch."

Tim threw the marshmallow and Kon caught it in his mouth.

"Eyy!" Tim celebrated.

"Okay, now you," Kon said and took the bag back. Kon tossed one at Tim and Tim jerked backwards. The marshmallow hit him in the face. Tim stared at the marshmallow in shock and Kon burst into laughter. Tim couldn't help but smile.

"You're horrible at this!" Kon said.

Tim gasped in fake offense.

"I'm not!"

"You are! Tim Drake is finally bad at something!"

"Oh, shut up," Tim said, rolling his eyes. But he was smiling too. "I'll get it."

"Uh huh, sure," Kon said. He frowned, "one sec, getting a text."

"Or turning tail," Tim teased.

"I'm sorry, which one of us is the Bunny, here?" Kon asked.

Tim tried to toss and catch another marshmallow into his mouth, and missed. "You know," he said, "if you wanted to see me shirtless that badly you could have just asked."

Kon rolled his eyes and took out his phone. "Keep practicing!" Kon called, wandering a little bit for privacy.

Tim tossed another marshmallow into his mouth. He missed again. Frack. Tim took another and tried again. The marshmallow hit his nose and bounced off. Aw, man.

"Hey," Kon said. Tim turned back to him.

"What's up?"

"Nothing. Just Reddy, checking up."

"Oh. What'd you tell him?"

"We're fine. Right?" Kon asked.

Tim looked at Kon. For a moment Kon looked a little nervous. Tim smiled at him.

"Yeah, we're fine."

"Good," Kon said, returning the smile. "So, show me how you're coming along with the marshmallows."

"I think I found a trick."

"Oh?"

Tim nodded, smiling. He took a handful and tossed them into the air, managing to catch two of the ten in his mouth.

"Quantity, not quality."

"Ah..." Kon said, smiling.

Tim laughed and took a handful out.

"You try."

Kon opened his mouth. Tim tossed them at him and Kon fell backwards, splaying the ground and they both burst into laughter.

"Hey," Kon asked between catching marshmallows. "If you won, were you really going to burn my jacket?"

Tim palmed the cool leather in his hand. He breathed in the smell, just a little bit of Kon and that underlying smell of worn leather. Everything about the jacket from the patches on the arms to the giant S on the back, a joke about his nickname. The Superboy. Before coming to Tim's precinct Kon had been the detective with the highest conviction rate in his region, but then he'd moved and met Tim and they'd been at each other's throats ever since—eventually unraveling into this bet.

No… if he'd won, he probably wouldn't have burned the jacket. It was good leather, and Tim knew that it meant a lot to Kon. He honestly didn't know what he would have done. He probably would have just worn it. Just to get a rise out of Kon.

Tim tossed Kon another marshmallow. "Nah. I probably would have worn it," he told him. Kon missed the marshmallow and looked surprised. Before either of them could get mushy, he added, "you know, Dick's doing this Color Run thing soon and has been begging me to join him, and so I thought why not-"

"You wouldn't!" Kon gasped.

Tim laughed and tossed him more candy.

They were about halfway done with the bag when Tim pointed out, "hey! Look!"

Kon pulled up the binoculars.

"I think those are our guys," Kon said.

"The ex-lovers?" Tim asked as Kon suggested: "Second honeymoon?"

"No ring," Tim pointed out.

"Ex-lovers it is. Tinder date?"

"We dated, you cheated on me, I slept with your brother to pay you back. I broke it off, then you dyed your hair and I got thin and now we're on tinder and found each other here."

Kon gave him a thumbs up and the two of them jogged down to the ground level.

"You want to go first, or me?"

"Be my guest."

As soon as they left the door on the ground Kon began shouting.

"How dare you? What the fuck are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" Tim demanded. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be balls deep in my ex-best friend?"

"He came on to me!" Kon shouted. "And besides, what do you care? You're the one who slept with my brother!"

"Yeah, because I wanted to sleep with him. It was to get back at you, you asshole!"

"Hey, hey! What're you doing?" Someone called from the truck probably carrying the gems. "You can't be here!"

"I fucking know he can't be here!" Tim cried, flinging a finger at Kon. "He should be-"

"I should be, I should be! Maybe you shouldn't be sleeping with your partners' siblings!"

"I shouldn't be? Who was the one who cheated on whom? You slept with my best friend! I can't even look at Bart now!"

"Hey, hey-!" The man called.

His friends came around the corner of the trunk.

"Bro, what's going on?"

"Yeah, boss says we gotta get the ice inside."

Verbal confirmation.

"Maybe you want to sleep with him, huh?" Tim asked, pointing to the criminal.

"You're the one who would sleep with him? What now that you're not with me, you're finally starting to get fit? Huh?" Kon turned to the men. "Does he look hot to you? Does he look 'attractive'?" Kon said the word full of mocking.

"Uh..." The men looked between Kon and Tim.

"Come on, you can say it. Everyone else does!" Kon said. No one else was coming out. Just the three of them. Kon nodded to Tim. "They say that-"

Together Kon and Tim pulled out their guns.

"GCPD! EVERYONE ON THE GROUND! HANDS ON YOUR HEADS!"

The men dropped to the ground.

"Kon, open the truck," Tim said.

Kon slid the trunk open while Tim kept his gun on them. Inside were the jewels.

"Boo-yah," Kon grinned.

"Call it in," Tim said. "We caught the Frieses."

"Brilliant as always, Drake." Kon took out his phone and dialed the precinct. He winked at Tim as he did. "Really, I almost believed you."

"I try. You know, it's because I totally did theater in college," Tim teased.

Kon's mouth dropped open. "What? How did I not know that? And how did I totally not tease you relentlessly for it?"

Tim gave Kon a scathing look. "Kon, I'm joking."

"This is why I hate you." Kon turned suddenly to his phone, "no, not you, Captain."

Tim rolled his eyes.

"You know, I'm pissed we got caught, but you two are kind of cute together," the perp on the ground said.

Tim and Kon laughed, exchanging looks. One of the perps looked at their friend and wiggled their eyebrows.

"Oh, stop that!" Tim said to them while Kon continued his call to Reddy.

Finally Kon hung up. "Cap'll be here in twenty."

"Great."

They held the criminals there until backup came. When they finally did arrive and Tim and Kon handed them off. Before unis dragged them into the paddy-wagon, one pulled Tim aside, "you sure you two aren't dating?"

"No?"

"Really, 'cuz you have some chemistry," the guy shrugged.

Tim shook his head as the uni pulled him away.

"What did he ask you about?" Kon asked as he passed by on the way back to his bike. He had his stake-out bag in hand, having gone back up to the roof to get it once back-up came.

"Nothing that matters." Tim looked down at Kon's jacket. "You want this back?"

"Nah, you keep it," Kon said. He let out a laugh. "I'm sure you don't want to wear that stupid blazer home."

Tim didn't. "Okay, you'll get it back tomorrow."

"No, keep it."

Tim turned to him, shocked.

"What?"

"Keep it."

"It's just a… after the whole bet and everything, you're going to just… give me your jacket?"

"It's just a jacket," Kon shrugged. "Besides, you aren't wearing a shirt under there and now it's got all your weird, gross armpit sweat."

"I can wash it."

"But I'll always know it was there," Kon said.

He headed off towards his bike before turning around.

"Hey, you want a ride home?" he called.

"Nah, I'll catch one from the precinct. Someone has to do the paperwork."

Kon grinned. "And you have plenty to catch up on after that deal with Greta."

"How did you know about that?" Tim demanded.

Kon tapped his temples. "Detective."

Tim rolled his eyes.

"See you tomorrow!" Kon called.

"See you!"

Tim shifted in the jacket. He could see why Kon liked it, it was really comfortable. Tim pulled the lapels up, not realizing until he took a large sniff that he was smelling Kon. Tim dropped them like they'd burned him.

"Hey! Drake!" Reddy called, breaking Tim from his trance. Tim patted his cheeks and hoped they weren't red as he jogged over.

"Yes, Cap?"

"I wanted to say thank you for tonight, I know it was your night off but we really needed it."

"Of course, any time."

"And the relief team was grateful they didn't have to be called in."

Tim froze. "What relief team?"

Reddy frowned. "Originally they were working the mob stake-out on fifth, but they finished up there quickly. Kon said that you two didn't need them to come."

Kon had given Tim his jacket… had given up his night of the Long Anticipated Bet…

"You have some chemistry."

"You alright, Drake?"

"Huh? Oh… yeah. I'm fine."

Tim's heart was pounding in his ears.

Did… did Kon… like him? Like, like him, like him? Like eighth grade type, like him?

"Hey, um, Captain? Can you handle the processing? I want to go home… maybe change."

"Sure," Captain Smith said. "See you tomorrow, Drake."

"You too, sir."

Tim pulled his phone out of his pocket and called a cab.

Kon stared up at the ceiling, rubbing his eyes. 'Keep it,' he'd told Tim. Just… keep his leather jacket. The most important thing in his life.

He knew why he'd done it. He'd done it because once he saw Tim put that leather jacket on, he never wanted to see Tim take it off.

Smug fucking Tim Drake.

All this? Just to see Tim in that fucking jacket and give it to him anyway.

And if Kon was being honest, his favorite part of the night was tossing marshmallows into Tim's open mouth. Imagining what it would be like to-

No. Kon shook his head. He needed to sleep. He couldn't do this to himself.

But, he knew, if he fell asleep now, he'd only dream of that smile on Tim's face when he finally caught a mini-marshmallow in his mouth.

The knock on the door jolted Kon up. He glanced at the clock, who the fuck would be knocking at one AM?

Kon snorted. Forty nine hours ago he'd woken up wondering why. It felt like so much longer than two days ago. Everything felt like so much longer.

They knocked again.

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm coming," Kon grumbled. He stood and walked over to the door, not bothering with the fact that he was already in PJs. If they wanted him fully dressed they could knock at a normal time.

Kon opened the door and saw… Tim. Standing there. Shifting on his feet.

Tim jumped when the door opened, looking nervously around.

"Oh! You're awake."

"Uh… yeah." What the fuck was Tim doing here?

Tim gave Kon a nervous half-shrug. "Well, it's tomorrow," Tim said.

"Sure is."

Tim said nothing, just stared at Kon.

"You… want to come in?" Kon asked.

"Sure," Tim said, entering.

Kon closed the door behind him. Tim chewed on his lip as he thought through what he wanted to say. Finally he looked up.

"There was a relief team," Tim said.

Kon blinked.

"What?"

"A relief team. You didn't have to waste your date on… the case. You could have let them come and go back to making me wish you were dead."

Kon froze.

"Oh. That." His heart thudded so loudly in his chest, he was sure Tim could hear. "Yeah, well we were already there and…" and I liked when you didn't wish I was dead, believe it or not. But Kon wimped out, just like he always did around Tim and made a joke. "Well, someone had to teach you how to catch a marshmallow in your mouth."

Tim stared at him for a moment blankly. Sometimes Kon would give anything to know what he was thinking.

"I enjoyed it more, too," Tim said, voice quiet.

The pounding of Kon's heart grew louder.

Tim stared at him for a moment more, and Kon wondered if Tim was thinking or just… waiting. Kon couldn't move if he wanted to, so paralyzed with fear that… what if Tim realized? Kon could barely breathe.

Tim shook his head. "Never mind, this was stupid. You're tired, I'll just le-"

"No!" Kon grabbed his arm to stop him and he turned back around.

Kon watched the leather settle over Tim's chest. He was still wearing the slacks from the stupid bunny outfit. The stupid… it managed to pull a laugh out of Kon's chest. The jacket looked better on Tim than the stupid bunny outfit did.

"I um, I like the way my jacket looks on you," Kon managed to say. It felt like he was talking through cotton, his jaw was as heavy as lead.

Tim snorted with laughter.

"I like when you laugh, too," Kon added.

Tim glanced back up at him and smiled. He brought something out of his back pocket and slowly, lowered himself onto one knee.

"Conner Kent, would you go with me," Tim's voice was shaky as he opened the ring-pop, presenting it to Conner, "on the second worst date of your life?"

Kon's jaw dropped open.

"You um, you don't have to say yes but-" then Conner was on his knees too and Tim's slicked back black hair was in his hands, and Tim's soft mouth, still tasting of sugar from the marshmallows was on his.

Someone made a noise that was somewhat like a moan and Conner thought that maybe it was him, not that it really mattered right now because he was kissing Tim Drake's smug-ass mouth and the sky could have fallen and he wouldn't have noticed.

Tim must have pulled away because Conner could barely feel any of his limbs, much less control them. Tim laughed and grinned that cheeky grin of his.

"So, is that a yes?" Tim asked.

"Yes, I'll go on a date with you," Conner said.

Tim laughed and said in a mocking voice mimicking what Conner had said to him, "he said ye-!" but he never finished that sentence because then, Conner's mouth was back on his. The ring-pop clattered to the floor, forgotten.